"The Unjami Ritual at Iheya Island in the Northern Ryukyus A Preliminary Study"

This article is intended as a preliminary study focused on the unjami ritual celebration held every year after the Obon Festival, on the 17th day of the 7th month according to the lunar calendar, in the village of Dana on the island of Iheya, a place often defi ned as the last repository of northern Ryukyuan folk traditions. After a brief historical introduction related to the island as well as to the important role played by noro priestesses in that area, a detailed description of the ritual, fruit of a fi eldwork carried out in Iheya in September 2012, follows. The fi nal section is a photographic documentation of the major stages of the unjami.